Process of and machine for printing web fabrics



(No Model.)

7 J. MAO'N AB. PROCESS OF AND MACHINE FOR PRINTING WEB FABRICS.

No. 364,029. I Patented Md s1, 1887.

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UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JAMES MAONAB, OF MILTON, COUNTY OF STIRLING, SCOTLAND, ASSIGNOR TO ANDREWV J. KEENAN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF AND MACHINE FOR PRINTING WE? FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 36},029, dated May 31, 1887.

Application filed November 9, 1886. Serial No. 218,395. (No model.) Patented in England December 3, 188.11%. 14,864.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES MAONAB, a citizen of Great Britain, residing at Milton, in the county of Stirling, Scotland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of and Machines for Printing Web Fabrics,

(for which'Lctters Patent No. 14,864, Decemher 3, 1885,.have been granted me in Great Britain and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same. t

My invention relates to devices for printing web fabrics, and has for its object the utilization of ordinary printing machinery in producing special styles and resultsand to enable new combinations and effects to be produced in imitation of woven goods and the styles 23 known as discharge cottons, reversibles,

double pads, curtains, and handkerchiefs--in' short,'to produce on printed textile goods (cotton, wool, or silk) the same appearance on both sides of the fabric by appli- 2 5 cation of coloring-matter to both sides of the fabric without employing special printing machinery having two bowls or central covered cylinders, such as is at present used for this class of printing.

I employ a single bowl or central covered cylinder, and print upon one side of the fabric in the ordinary way by means of rollers or printing-cylinders, while for obtaining the corresponding effect in color and design upon the 5 other side of the fabric I employ a transfer medium of pliable character, upon which the figure'and color are impressed by a roller or printing-cylinder, and which then passes between the circumference of the bowl or central 4c covered cylinder and the reverse face or back of the fabric under treatment and transfers or deposits its color thereupon coincident and registering with the color-s and figures on the other side;

I may have any number of printing-cylinders on the outside of the fabric-from one to three or four, according to the number of colors or figures to be printed-and there may be one, two, or more such cylinders for depositing color upon the transfer surface or medium. The fabric is guided by rollers suitably arranged from the beam to the bowl, so

as to keep it from touching or interfering with the color-transferring or printing cylinders, and a pressing roller or cylinder aids the direct printing-rolls to keep the fabric tight against the transfer-surface.

This process of transferring the coloring material to the reverse side of the fabric is also very usefuland effectual in supplying mor- 6o da-nts and in applying them to the fabric, so that coloring-matters which would not work together can be usedupoirthe direct coloringrolls and the mordant be applied by means of the transfer-surface upon the reverse side of 6 the fabric, and the operation will be found successful.

This process can be carried on in any modern style of calico-printing machine using copper printing-cylinders, or with circular block or surface rollers, by making a few simple al.- terations, which any'practical printer will understand without specialdescription. Such changes will, moreover, not lessen the capacity of such machines for ordinary work.

The accompanying sectional diagram illustrates the manner of carrying my invention into practice. -I have purposely omitted the features of the printing-machine which do not have a direct'application and function in ap- 8o plying my invention to practice.

D isthe web fabric to be treated, which is to have, for example, a pattern having two colors on its outer face, D, and one color on its inner face or back, D". The fabric is supplied from a beam, D andis guided by rollers F F to the bowl or central covered cylinder, A, partially around the circumference or surface A of which it passes and is held firmly thereagainst by rollers, which will presently 0 be described.

To give the two colors upon one side and one upon the other, two printing cylinders or rollers, 13 B, are arranged on the exterior or outer face of the fabric, so as to press it firmly 5 against the bowl A and transfer their colored designs or patterns directly to said outer face of the fabric, and one printing cylinder or roller,

0, will be employed to give the single color to the inner face of the fabric; but instead 10o of applying the color directly from the cylinder 0 to said inner face of the fabric-which a transfer-surface and an additional color or printing cylinder I am enabled to print colors on both sides of the fabric with equal success, as though expensive and complex machinery were employed.

Of course more than one of the cylinders forgiving their color to the transfer-surface can be employed, as already stated, and more than two of the cylinders for printing upon the exterior or outer face of the fabric.

\Vhen printing two or more colors on the back, all but one of the transfer rollers or cylinders should be what are known as surface rollers.

As stated in the opening paragraphs of the specification, the roller or cylinder 0 can be employed to apply mordant to the back of the fabric or canvas, while coloring-matters which would not serve well if mixed together before being applied to the fabric can be applied by the rollers or cylinders B B, and the niordant applied by the roller 0, through the medium of the transfer-surface IE, will cause said colors to blend and become properly fixed in the fabric.

The transfersurface E may be any suitable sort of cloth or textile material; but I prefer to make it non-absorbent by coating it with india-rnbber or analogous water-proof material.

The printing rollers or cylinders B B, together with the plain pressing-roll B, serve to keep the fabric tight against the transfersurface, so that the material thereupon will be completely given off to the reverse or back side of the fabric. The printing cylinders B B 0 receive this coloring material from the color-rolls b, which work in the troughs b in the usual way.

It will be understood that different colors and patterns may be applied to the two sides of the fabric by this arrangement, and that, if desired, only one color-printing roller or cylinder may be employed upon the exterior or outer face of the fabric.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. The herein-described process of printing fabrics, consisting in printing one side of said fabric by a transfer-surface and at the same time printing the reverse side by ordinary cylinder-printing, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a bowl or cylinder, of the transfer-surface E, running over said bowl or cylinder between it and the fabric to be printed, means, substantially as described, for applying color to the transfer-surface, and means for printing the reverse side of the fabric at the same time, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with abowl, A, atransfer'snrface, E, and printing-roller 0,, of the printing roller or rollers B B, combined and arranged to operate as set forth.

In testimony whereofI aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES MACN AB.

\Vi tn esses:

J OHN MOWILLIAM, ED. MURRAY, Both of 176 Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland, Clerks at Law. 

